Touching Down in Tokyo

Live and direct from my laptop, it’s Zev Eats It. In case you were not aware, I have accepted an invitation from the JET Program to be an ALT – Assistant Language Teacher – in Iyo-shi, Ehime-ken, Shikoku, Japan for the next year (at least). You may have many questions. For instance: Why are you doing this? Where are you? How are you qualified to be a teacher? All good questions that I will address in time. Let’s start with the easiest one: my physical location.

While there are a few places in Japan most people have heard of – Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, to name a few – there are many more that remain mysteries. I am not living in one of those name-brand cities. How best to describe my location in relative terms? I am living on Japan’s smallest main island in terms of both population and landmass, Shikoku. Iyo is a city of about 30k people, and could be considered a exuburb of Matsuyama, a bigger city of half a million, the prefectural capital and largest city on the island. A closer examination of the map would reveal that Ehime, my prefecture, is across the water from Hiroshima.

so why am I doing this? Well for starters, my mom doing JET in the mid-90s seems to have set me on this path. Because she did JET, she enrolled me in the Japanese school, and it feels like I can draw a straight line from that to me being here now. Was it destiny? I digress. But as it currently stands, the job market in DC (my home for the last few years and where I graduated from college) is abysmal, owing to mass federal layoffs and the proliferation of AI. So while my friends struggle to gain employment, I consider myself lucky to be here. I applied in October, and found out I had been accepted to JET in March. Thank God I did, because I did not apply to anything else – there was no Plan B. I received my placement in May, and was dropped off at the airport at 5 A.M. on August 2nd after a pre-departure orientation the previous day.

I had always heard that the kosher meal on a flight was the superior option, but I had never opted for it until now. For reasons beyond my comprehension, I decided to investigate it. For dinner, I was presented with a salmon in sweet chili sauce with approximately three forlon slices of zucchini and some rice. There was also a barley salad and a slice of chocolate cake. Quality-wise, it seemed like an average to above-average airplane meal, nothing to write home about. I was slightly jealous of my peers who received sukiyaki, but oh well.

A podcast (“No Way Out” Rewatchables) and two movies (Casino and Mission Impossible) later, we were beginning our descent into Tokyo. As the pilot announced his intention to thread the needle between two tropical storms in the area, I recieved quite possibly the worst bagel I have ever eaten, with a McDonald’s-level egg concoction in between the two slices of the hamburger bun with a hole. But with the influx of turbulence, everyone else did not receive a second in-flight meal, so I ended up relatively satisfied.

Orientation was at the very fancy Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, where the wind was taken out of our sails upon arrival when we were informed that we would not have access to the pool, despite the temperatures in the upper 90s with one million percent humidity. I also shared my not-very-large room with two fellow JETs from Portland. After dumping our stuff, a rag-tag group of jetlagged gaijin managed to procure dinner from a ramen shop around the corner.

I beat the heat with a cool mazasoba and an ice-cold draft beer. One thing about Japan that stands out in stark contrast to the States, especially Portland, is that you can just order “beer” and they’ll bring you a utilitarian pour. Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi – who really knows or can tell the difference, but it’s going to be nicely chilled and pleasantly foamy.

After eating, I was still up for adventure and wanted to stay out as late as possible, so I let my roommate Mario lead us to a bar run by a YouTuber near the infamous Shibuya Crossing. We were utterly befuddled by the train/subway system so it ended up taking us over an hour to get there while it only took about 20 minutes and three subway stops to get back. I wasn’t a big fan of Shibuya, a sweaty and utterly exhausting mass of humanity assaulted from all angles by blinking and chirping stimulai. Times Square on steroids with the stickiest weather to boot. The only antidote? A Jumbo waffle ice cream sandwich.

The next morning, we gathered bright and early for orientation. Close to six hundred of us in our best business attire from all over the world were bored to tears for the next nine hours. No doubt the information presented was important, but it was not presented in the most engaging manner. We all sat in this room and were talked at all day, with a brief break for lunch. There was little participation from us, and my ass went numb quickly. The highlight was meeting other JETs from all over the world, including a guy from Grenada and two girls from the Bahamas, countries that I did not anticipate producing JETs. Ariana and Amanda from the Bahamas even gave me some Bajan snacks (pictured below) after I shared my きのこの山 (chocolate mushrooms) with them.

But when the clock struck six, I leaped out of my suit and into street clothes and took the subway across town to meet my longtime friend Gen, his mother Ryoko, and their friend Tomoko. Longtime readers know that Gen was my best friend at Richmond Elementary, the Japanese immersion school in Portland that I attended for a few years. Gen has recently moved to rural Hokkaido, where he bought land and is in the process of building a domicile where he can live off the grid in a self-sustaining fashion. Check out our epic feast below, where we had three rounds of yakitori, two different salads, karaage, fried octopus, raw chicken (marinated in vinegar and miso, delicious), various seafood rice bowls, and for dessert, a chestnut cake with special matcha from Kyushu, and sake affogato.

This meal was maybe the highlight of the entire year for me, and I hope Gen comes to visit me when he’s sick of the snow and wants a warmer beach climate.

The next day of orientation was more interesting, as we split into smaller groups and got the opportunity to do some teacher roleplaying. At the end of the day we broke into our prefectural groups, and received our itinerary. As we would be flying to Matsuyama the following morning, we would have to be ready to leave the hotel at 6:45 the following morning. After dinner at a local izakaya, I retired early.

I got an inari bento for the plane – slightly underwhelming to be honest.

When I landed in Matsuyama, my JET coworkers and my supervisor picked me up at the airport and took me to a local okonomiyaki restaurant for lunch. The place had no AC and I was sweating bullets inside. Food came slow but it was made with love.

Some local scenes from Iyo, including my local train station, outside of my apartment, and place of work (city hall). I’m also a short walk from the beach, which is lovely.

Well, that’s about it for now. I’m spending my days sitting at a desk in city hall until class starts in the fall. Post any questions you may have in the comments below.

– Zev